There'll be an Island presence when nominees vie for AZN Television's Asian Excellence Awards, which will be taped May 16 at UCLA's Royce Hall, and aired May 24 on AZN-TV (not seen in the Hawai'i marketplace) and E! Entertainment.

Daniel Dae Kim of ABC's "Lost" is co-hosting the the ceremonies with Grace Park of the Sci-Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica."

Kim is a nominee for outstanding actor in TV, along with co-star Naveen Andrews.

Two actresses with Island ties are competing for outstanding TV actresses: Yunjin Kim of "Lost" and Kelly Hu of ABC's "In Case of Emergency."

And Maggie Q, a Honolulan, is a nominee for outstanding supporting actress in a film ("MI: III/Mission Impossible 3."

Sanjaya Malakar, the former Kaua'i resident who was an "American Idol" finalist this year, is one of the nominees for best reality show star.

The awards honors achievement among Asians and Asian Americans in movies and TV, so key nominees are derived from such projects as "Babel," "Curse of the Golden Flower," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "The Namesake," "Heroes," "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."